By SDCN Staff
Alameda, CA–The Coast Guard has increased its operational presence near the southwest border between the U.S. and Mexico to enhance border security, and immigration enforcement and to protect the territorial integrity of the United States.
Coast Guard District Eleven (D11) has expanded its posture from previous steady state counter-illicit-maritime activities to gain full operational control of the Southwest Maritime Border.
Since Jan. 21, D11 has tripled its forces operating on the southern border and coordinated Coast Guard surface and air presence with partners to detect, deter, and interdict undocumented and drug smuggling ventures. D11 diverted aircraft, cutters, small boats, and crews under its operational control to the southern border, increasing the undocumented apprehension rates by 75 percent with multiple smuggling attempts continuing to occur each night. The Coast Guard says it remains committed to a persistent operational presence to ensure border security and territorial integrity of the United States.
According to the Coast Guard, irregular maritime migration aboard unseaworthy or overloaded vessels is always dangerous, and often deadly. D11 saves lives and discourages anyone from taking to the sea which is unsafe and illegal.
D11 has increased its operational presence and focus to combat illegal fentanyl threatening the United States. In recent years, smuggling ventures across the southern border have been found to include bulk cocaine, methamphetamines, and fentanyl.
The Coast Guard has increased operations to interdict, seize, and disrupt the transshipment of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs by sea. This includes operations in the Eastern Pacific and the Western Hemisphere Transit Zone, a major highway for illegal smuggling activity. Through sustained counter-narcotics operations, the Coast Guard has imposed billions of dollars of costs on the criminal networks, continuing the fight against corruption and violence fueled by narco-trafficking. Coast Guard law enforcement action and presence are critical to countering the destabilizing impacts of transnational organized crime. Since January 21, the Coast Guard has intercepted more than 68,800 pounds of cocaine and 4,200 pounds of marijuana totaling nearly $785 million in wholesale value.
These trends may change due to an influx of Coast Guard assets coupled with Department of Defense resources and U.S. Border Patrol in a coordinated effort to protect our southern borders and maritime approaches. U.S. Northern Command recently deployed two U.S. Navy warships to the southern border to protect the territorial integrity of the United States and support Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard operations.
These U.S. Navy warships will operate in direct support of the Coast Guard and carry Coast Guard law enforcement teams to conduct border security operations under Coast Guard authorities. As the Coast Guard sustains its operational posture, including the arrival of the U.S. Navy warships, it is fully integrated with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense through NORTHCOM and U.S. Southern Command.
Additionally, D11 is assisting with the national transport of the undocumented to designated locations in Texas and California, where the Department of Defense transports them internationally for repatriation.
